SAINTS coach Paul Wellens accepted the two-match ban handed out to centre Mark Percival for his ‘head contact’ tackle on Friday night, but said the process of re-educating players was on-going.

It was the sort of crash-tackle Percival has made his trademark – but Wellens has impressed upon his players that such a move has to be executed correctly or they will face the consequences under the new ruling.

For Saints the red card punishment for Percival’s head contact with Jack Ormondroyd was a game-changer, given they had to play the last 36 minutes with 12 men and were eventually overhauled by three late Salford tries.

Wellens said: “Players are adapting and we as coaches are working hard with the players to re-educate them on what is and isn't acceptable.

“And I think if you look at Mark Percival’s tackle live in the cold light of day, it's probably a tackle that the fans loved and everyone used to champion.

“He flies out of the line, he makes a strong contact - it's probably the type of collision rugby league thrives upon.

“We are trying to re-educate the players now in terms of you are going to fly out the line like that you've got to get it right.

“You can’t hit anywhere around the head – if you do make that contact you are going to be punished and the evidence is there with Mark receiving a two-game ban.

“Percy is a brilliant person and player and there was never any malicious intent there to tackle high.

“But he has got to get that read right when he decides to come out of the line.”

Although accepting the sending off and subsequent ban, Wellens called for a consistent approach for on-field matters after noting that former Saint Jack Ashworth saw yellow not red in Hull’s game in Catalans.

Although Ashworth’s Grade D and three matches was later downgraded to a higher end Grade C and two games on appeal, the general call remains valid.

Wellens said: “I am not sure where I stand on the ban at this moment in time.

“It's been well documented that the game’s gone down a certain path with regards to head contact and to be fair to the game they've provided us with all of the information over the course of the last few months.

“We want to reduce head contact but we're never going to totally eliminate it.

“I understand from a from a coach's perspective that it comes by tackling the issue in terms of on-field and off-field penalties.

St Helens Star:

“As I sit here now, I accept it - but my concern would be ‘are we going have the same level of consistency throughout the course of the year?’

“For example there were two Grade D charges which have resulted in suspensions at the weekend.

“One was a red card and one was a yellow card, and I think it's the on-field decisions which can really impact the game which we have to get right.

“So I'm OK if Mark Percival’s tackle is a Grade D red card, but it has to be the same (red card)  for everybody.”